Art is used in a socially pointed manner in the group exhibit “Erase Hate Through Art” at the Columbia Art Center. Indeed, the exhibit's anti-bullying message is spelled out with words as well as imagery in some of the artwork.

Curator Grant Meyers organized this exhibit for How Do You Like Me Now Productions, which is a nonprofit group advocating on behalf of the LGBT community in the Baltimore and Washington area.

One artist who faces up to the general theme in a bluntly literal fashion is Isabelle Cochran, who has a “Bullying” series of black-and-white photographic portraits of teenagers. Words including “weird,” “goth,” “fat,” “short” and “creep” are scrawled on the pieces of masking tape that cover the mouths of these young subjects.

Teens are especially sensitive to being defined by derogatory labels, so literally putting labels on these individuals definitely makes an impression on the viewer. Also, these relatively austere black-and-white images force you to confront the hurtful labels and won't let your eyes wander elsewhere within the otherwise object-free compositions.

Text is directly incorporated into other works of art in this show. Federico A. Ruiz's mixed media “I Am Gay, Straight, Bi, a Person” spells out the work's title in stenciled letters across a surface that's already a busy collage of photographic images depicting scenes from anti-gay rallies. Among the signs held up at these rallies is one reading, “Homosexuals Are Obsessed by Demons.” You've got to wonder what would possess somebody to make such a sign.

Ruiz has a similar work in the exhibit called “God Hates You,” which reinforces the sense that strong emotions are visually jousting here.

Yet another artist who overtly makes use of text within the artwork itself is Rick Byrd, who has a series of mixed-media paintings. Besides utilizing photo-based imagery and zones of loosely applied paint, Byrd's work includes occasional words painted across the surface.

In Byrd's mixed-media painting “Love Is Epic,” the spelled out words include “respect” and “together.” In addition to such serious single words, this painting has an 18th-century quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Beer is proof God loves us.” It's safe to say that most viewers across the political spectrum will smile at that beer-positive message.

Other artists in the exhibit address the overall topic in more symbolic ways.

John Anderson's quilted fabric “Pulse” contains horizontal strips of cloth whose color scheme evokes the gay movement's rainbow flag. The work's title, of course, refers to the name of an Orlando, Fla., nightclub where a massacre took place.

Although some of the other pieces in this show do not directly reference LGBT issues, they typically have an affirmative nature that qualifies as a response to homophobia.

Jeff Greenberg has a series of 24 untitled, heart-shaped encaustic wax paintings on wood that are hanging in a gridded arrangement. There's no missing the heartfelt quality of this series, and these variously colored hearts also tend to have a cheerful appearance.

Also communicating a message of good cheer is Eileen Williams' mixed media wall-mounted fabric piece titled “Free to Be,” whose densely interwoven sculptural shapes include many butterfly-evocative shapes.

Just as butterflies fly freely through the world, these three-dimensional, fabric-coated butterfly forms seem capable of taking off from the sculptural surface and flying into the gallery air. Hatred has been known to put up a tough fight, but these butterflies amount to beautiful opposition.

“Erase Hate Through Art” runs through Oct. 30 at the Columbia Art Center, 6100 Foreland Garth in Long Reach Village Center in Columbia. Call 410-730-0075 or go to ColumbiaArtCenter.org.